Question for the BMW motocycle crowd

scottmandue · 09-30-2005, 09:27 AM

With rising gas prices and all I was thinking of dusting off the bike helmet and picking up a cheap two wheeler. Rumor has it that the old BMW bikes are nigh on invincible.
I have found a few ads for mid 1970's (a 74 and a 75) R90/6 in the $2000-$3000 range in the Los Angeles area. Are those good bikes? I'm looking for low maintenance high gas mileage and a little bit of the cool factor of the boxer twin.

Thanks,
Scott

motion · 09-30-2005, 09:32 AM

Scott - Get one. It will hold its value forever. They are simple bikes to work on and very reliable.

arcsine · 09-30-2005, 09:33 AM

They are pretty much bomb proof and if you buy one and you get to be an "Airhead" to boot.

http://www.airheads.org/

juanbenae · juanbenae's Garage

i have heard stories of them going 100k miles with just oil changes and valve adjustments.

Drago · Drago's Garage

I've had my eye on these two:

Thanks for posting the corrected link Steve.

VaSteve · 09-30-2005, 10:45 AM

The silver one. Or the white one if you bag the fairing and the seatback for the passenger. I wish I had some money. Oh, that and knew how to ride....

....Classes next month!!

stevepaa · 09-30-2005, 10:54 AM

http://www.ridewest.com/preowned/index.asp

arcsine · 09-30-2005, 11:01 AM

Ride West treated me very well when I bought my K11RS.

Joeaksa · 11:47 AM

Scott,

Have pretty much owned one of every aircooled BMW made since 1970 and they are hard to beat in many areas.

Yes, the gearbox is straight cut and clunky during shifts, and the flywheel is almost heavy enough to be a boat anchor, but they will last forever if you can work past the two above issues. They will never shift like a newer Jap (or BMW) bike.

The /6 versions started in 1974 and with this you get a disk front brake and more modern instruments. The /5 from 1970 to 1974 is the old fashioned looking models and still had the drum front brake.

I have a '72 R75/5 these days. Gave up wanting to go 200 mph on two weeks. Drove the autobahn's for many years and got that out of my system. Going around the town and such on what I have today is just fine. Next move is to attach a sidecar onto it and then the fun really begins!

JoeA

Edit, just looked at the Ride West site and they have some nice bikes but are a bit high on the pricing. I bought my /5 18 months ago in excellent condition with 66k miles on it for $3500. The /5 they have listed is at $5k only because its almost new at 23k miles.

A nice one they have is the R100S for $6500 but even at that its over priced.

Here is a very nice R90/6 that should go for under $4k on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-1975-R-90-6-NO-RESERVE_W0QQitemZ4579010521QQcategoryZ49977QQrdZ1Q QcmdZViewItem

Another nice R75/6, with a buy it now price of $3.7k in Oakland:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1975-BMW-R75-6_W0QQitemZ4578508245QQcategoryZ49977QQrdZ1QQcmdZV iewItem

Here is a descent R50/5 on Ebay that will probably go for under $3:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1971-BMW-R500-5-Nice-Original-Low-Mileage_W0QQitemZ4579058018QQcategoryZ49977QQrdZ1Q QcmdZViewItem

Drago · Drago's Garage

Nice Toaster Joe!

An aquiantance of mine bought one very similar to yours. He took it in to a local shop because he thought the tranny was bad. After spending almost 1K to make it "right" he was left with exactly as you describe...a typical BMW gear box.

Not the brightest bulb, that one.

FWIW the shop is no longer in business. They also screwed a friend of mine on rewiring the speedo/head light combo on his /5.

Ridewest is the only game left in Seattle and they are a class act.

scottmandue · 09-30-2005, 12:20 PM

Can someone help me decipher the model numbers?
Like "74 BMWR90/6 $3500" what displacement is that?
Thanks,
Scott

Drago · Drago's Garage

R90/6 ~900cc
R75/5 ~750cc
and so on.

arcsine · 09-30-2005, 12:24 PM

R = boxer twin
90 = 900cc
unsure of what the "/#" designation is (model version perhaps?)

Drago · Drago's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by arcsine
R = boxer twin
90 = 900cc
unsure of what the "/#" designation is (model version perhaps?)

the /X indicates what range of years the bike was produced. /6 is from '74 to ???. /5 was '73 and prior years to ???.

I'm sure Joe will chime in shortly.

Joeaksa · 09-30-2005, 12:32 PM

Drago,

Thanks and wish it was that simple! the slash / is simply a model designation like the 911 or 912.

The first was a /2 in the 50's and 60's, then they went up to the /5 (which went from '70 to '74 or so) then the /6 which came next from '74 to ?. The last of the slash designations was the /7 and that started in 1977 with the R100/7. After this the slash has not been used that I know of.

As several have mentioned, BMW puts the engine size in the model, R100 is a 1000 cc bike. R90 is a 900 cc engine and so on.

The "R" models were boxers, and the "K" models are watercooled. The watercooled versions are nice but do not last as long as the aircooled models.

Hope this helps!

JoeA

VaSteve · 09-30-2005, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Joeaksa

I have a '72 R75/5 these days. Gave up wanting to go 200 mph on two weeks. Drove the autobahn's for many years and got that out of my system. Going around the town and such on what I have today is just fine. Next move is to attach a sidecar onto it and then the fun really begins!

The sidecar will void your warrenty.

DeutschMark · 09-30-2005, 04:11 PM

Scott, check out the forum at www.boxerworks.com. I seem to recall some issues with a certain year of R90/6 but I don't think it was anything major. Use the search function to find everything you need to know about these bikes.

Another great forum is www.motobins.co.uk/yabbse/index.php.

Joeaksa · 09-30-2005, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by VaSteve
The sidecar will void your warrenty.

Steve, considering that the bike is 34 years old, do not feel that the warranty would be a problem!

The earlier models came with sidecar hookups on the frame, so its not an issue with the BMW's to haul a 'hack around.

JoeA

alf · 09-30-2005, 09:39 PM

I would like to have one but the boss is against it

Love the R100R(S), oh well. She is cool with another Porsche though

VaSteve · 10-01-2005, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Joeaksa
Steve, considering that the bike is 34 years old, do not feel that the warranty would be a problem!

The earlier models came with sidecar hookups on the frame, so its not an issue with the BMW's to haul a 'hack around.

JoeA

It was a joke

The BMW buyer's guide said that the /5's didn't have mounting points because mounting a side car would void the warranty. I figured you knew that

I can't wait until my learn to ride class. Would a BMW bike be good for a new rider?